Towards Inclusive Infrastructures: Examining the Experiences of Gender Diverse People in University Systems

Research on gender, identity, and technology has focused on designing individual systems for inclusivity, that is, examining how individual systems should be designed from the ground up to represent transgender, nonbinary, gender non-conforming, and other gender diverse identities in affirming ways. As a result, less is understood about the challenges that gender diverse people face in organizational contexts that are characterized by multiple interconnected systems. For example, universities maintain separate systems for applications, admissions, housing, and course management that only occasionally communicate with each other. We address this gap by examining the experiences of gender diverse people in navigating such complex infrastructures of systems. Through a qualitative study consisting of 20 interviews, we find that participants encountered a range of unique challenges: slow and inconsistent updates of personal information across systems, unexpected leaks of outdated information, and uncertainty around providing legal versus chosen information. To navigate these challenges, participants used workarounds such as seeking help from organizational insiders, piloting identity on a small scale, practicing small acts of resistance, and selectively picking which battles to fight. Participants expressed several goals for inclusive infrastructures such as quick and consistent updates; explanations for non-inclusive design decisions; and contextual, transparent, and safe data sharing practices; supported by community education to facilitate broader cultural and organizational shifts towards inclusivity. We discuss contributions to CSCW research on gender, identity, and technology, and present design implications to better support gender diverse people in technical infrastructures.